I had been without a TT for so long that I had forgotten just how wonderful vinyl is. I finally got a donated TT and purchased a Shure model 92 (all I could afford) and spun a few tonight. Even this cheapo outfit gave me such impact and dynamics... I just couldn't believe what I have been missing.

First out of the blocks was a recording of a New Years Concert in Vienna. Wow... Tympani just jumped out at me. Wonderful.

Then a CSO recording of the Beethovan Violin Concerto in D. Dynamic to be sure but the delicate quiver at the top of those long assending patterns melted me on the spot.

Finally Leon Berry at the mighty wurlizer at the Hub Rink in Chicago. Now there is a record in bad shape but oh the memories. Can't wait to spin Also Sprach

i inherited a huge collection of LP's and 78's from my brother in law -- there was a lot to throw away -- mold -- but i now have playing George Szell conducting the NY Phil and it is much better than the CD.

I think that the remastering of these recordings from the 1960's for CD's did a great disservice to the memory of folks like Szell, Casals, Bernstein etc.

If you ever consider another system - I use at present (having spun vinyl after a hiatus for the last ten years again) a denon dl 103.
This sytem - available for 145$ on ecbay - beats a shure V15VxMR, shure 500 ultra and a goldring 1042, which I all have used until I got the denon by I wide margin.
I mean soundstage, bass reproduction, separation of instruments, control of sibillants and surface noise and the presence of vocalists.

I ran shure system for four years until I finally made the jump to a low output MC - and it is worth every penny saved.
My shures sold on ebay last week...

All you need is a phono pre with at least 60 dB amplification (I use a stanton B310) or go to the highoutput MC DL 160.

After I installed the denon: I am rediscovering my 1500+ vinyl records all over again, and I have not put on a cd for over four weeks as I do not feel the need.
With this sytem cd is simply unnecessary.

Originally posted by: mashaffer
First out of the blocks was a recording of a New Years Concert in Vienna. Wow... Tympani just jumped out at me. Wonderful.

I know what you mean! After a 10+ yr hiatus/withdrawal from vinyl to the "superior" sound of the so aptly named Compacted (dynamics that is) Disc, I placed my precious (now it IS!) Billy Cobham - Eclipse LP on my cheapie Thorens/Audio Technica AT 140ML. The dynamics of the drums on "Moon Germs" was incredible. I quickly placed the Remastered CD on the dynamic reducer player to compare. No contest!
I could write twenty pages about my disgust with some Remastering Engineers and producers (no caps), but it would just leave me empty.
How can they proudly put their names on such shoddy work?
Let's take this quality recording, run it through our very expensive and State of The Art (misnomer) mixing board/console, back off on some of the bass (well that is what happens when you run it through a zillion capacitors, IC's and faders!) and boost the 5-8kHz range to make the recording sound 'fresh' and new. "Today" Then make it loud (to compete with the newest/latest 90-day wonder) so it will sound good on my teen's boom box and ear-buds.
Not mention who knows what tape deck they're using. Azimuth?? Ahh, once we get it in our digital mastering station if there is a problem we can take care of it there. And besides, after we apply all these effects to it on our very expensive State of The Art Digital Mastering Suite you won't be able to tell anyway!

Most of us old-farts grew up in the day when you could go down to the corner RatShack and actually buy parts to build/fix an amp, buy reel to reel tape (and not get looked at funny!), buy a new stylus or cartridge for our turntable (the salesperson actually knew what you were talking about!), test our tubes, buy tubes (no Tube vs. SS please! ), buy transistors (you still can, but they may have to order it) and you get the drift! Now it's turned into a Sprint store! Well that helps my wife as she works for them ahhggg!

Where am I going with this? Well things have changed for better or worse. The love for good sound has basically gone with it! As we have our ipods, illegal file sharing and Home Theatre w/MTV.
You don't see very many teens (or adults) asking friends to come over to check out their systems as it was then. You could clearly see the trend from FM radio as I did. We buy microwave ready food, 30 seconds to 3 minutes and you've got a meal! No fuss, no muss! D***** Hot-Pockets! And don't forget the clown with the red hair and the red, white and yellow clown suit!
I miss those car-hops...